


The Rest Was History

by childofmischief



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Annabeth's life, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 20:37:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11608485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofmischief/pseuds/childofmischief
Summary: Annabeth Chase was seventeen years old, and the rest was history.





	The Rest Was History

Annabeth Chase was five years old when she realized she would never be wanted. 

The twins had just been born, and her stepmother refused to allow her anywhere near them. At first, her father had been apologetic about it, promising he would take Annabeth out to the library later and they could read about the Parthenon. So, she often sat away from the twins and her family, drawing buildings and humming to herself. Her father never did make good on the promise that they would go to the library together, and Annabeth found herself having to figure out ways to not feel so sad anymore.

But when the spiders wouldn’t leave her alone, she wasn’t sure she could. She told her stepmother and was met with rolling eyes and scoffs of disbelief. She was told she was doing it for attention, that there was no way spiders would come after a human the way Annabeth said they did. Everytime she was told she was lying, or to go away because she was gonna wake up the babies, her chest tightened, and tears burned in the back of her eyes. 

Annabeth Chase was seven years old when she decided to do something about feeling unwanted.

It was clear to the smart seven year old she wasn’t wanted anymore. She was a freak and the twins were normal, so there was no need for Annabeth in their lives anymore. She was smart, so she knew exactly what to pack and when to leave. After school, she went straight up to her room, quietly emptying her backpack. Where she was going, she wouldn’t need it anymore, not for school. 

After gathering everything she needed, she slipped through the door before any of her family got home, leaving only a poorly written note. With a hammer clutched in her small hand, she knew it was Annabeth Chase against the world. It would always be Annabeth Chase against the world. 

She was just a little girl, who was forced to realize that her family couldn’t protect her. Most children don’t realize this until they are older, so it is a tragedy when a child knows they will be safer on their own.

Annabeth Chase was seven years old when she found a new, better family. 

She hadn’t been a runaway for long. Her stomach was growling and she was scared because oh god that was another monster sniffing near the trashcan she had found herself in. Hot tears stung behind her eyes, and she had to shove a fist in her throat to prevent the cries from escaping. But when she heard the sounds of teenagers fighting outside the can, she peeked out, and saw them.

Luke and Thalia weren’t ever expecting to find such a young kid. But upon seeing her, they knew they had to take her in. Luke gave her the knife, and attached to it, a promise. It wasn’t going to be Annabeth Chase against the world anymore, now it was Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan, and Thalia Grace against the world. 

“We’re a family now, Annabeth.” Luke had said.

Family.

Annabeth Chase was seven years old when she lost part of her family. 

She thought that when Grover found them, her life would be easier. She and Luke and Thalia could be a family in a place where they belonged. They would be safe and away from all the danger that constantly plagued them. But Annabeth is Annabeth, and she brings about every bad thing that has ever happened ever. Maybe if she had been a little quicker, if she had been able to fight Luke off and help her, it wouldn’t have happened. Thalia was so much braver than she could ever be, giving up her life just so Luke and Annabeth and Grover could live. Once again, Annabeth felt her chest tightened, and the tears started streaming down her face, mingling with the dirt on her cheeks. 

She watched as Thalia died, falling limply to the ground after losing the fight. She watched as Zeus turned his daughter into a tree, rising up from the ground from the remnants of her friend. 

Annabeth Chase was twelve years old when she got the chance to prove herself. 

She had been stuck at camp for five long years, itching for the chance to prove she was something worth remembering. Athena didn’t trust her enough to go on a quest, but she knew she could do it. Sure, she didn’t like that Percy kid, it’s not like she thought he was cute or anything, what? But that quest he was sent on, the one to find Zeus’ lightning bolt, it was the opportunity she had been waiting for. Annabeth Chase wanted to be more than just another child of Athena at camp who was overly smart but had not way of applying what she knew to the real world. She didn’t want to be stuck at camp anymore because she was Annabeth Chase, and she will be remembered, if its the last thing she does.

Annabeth Chase was twelve years old when what remained of her family betrayed her.

The quest was supposed to be the biggest thing of her life. It was supposed to be how she showed her worth to everyone she knew. But instead, she was met not with glory, but betrayal. Luke, her own family, had been the lightning thief all along, and wanted to destroy the gods once and for all. They had failed him, he said, not knowing he had failed her. She was too young to know the sting of betrayal, yet the man that swore to protect her all those years ago had shown her what it felt like. 

Annabeth Chase was thirteen years old when a part of her family came back. 

Luke had been gone for a year, and now he had poisoned her tree. How dare he. During the whole quest, Annabeth’s chest felt tight and restricting and she wanted to cry and scream and fight Luke because he promised he would protect her and love her. She didn’t expect the fleece to bring Thalia back, and that night when it did, Annabeth could barely stand. It had been eight years, eight long years with Thalia gone and just like that, she was back, having barely aged. When she met the eyes of Grover her knees felt like jelly because there she was. Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, was back. And things seemed okay again because maybe it wasn’t her fault Thalia had died, and now she’s alive again. 

Annabeth Chase was fourteen when the worst thing that had happened thus far in her life happened.

Falling off a cliff was the scariest thing that had ever happened to her. Holding up the sky was the hardest thing she had ever done. No matter how much she thinks she hates Luke, she can’t stand seeing him, struggling under the sky, because even after everything he’s done, he doesn’t deserve to die. No one deserves to die. When she held the sky, she could barely breathe, not just from the strain of the world on her shoulders, but also from the sting of betrayal she felt once again. Never before in her life did the prideful girl want to give up, but holding that sky for what felt like years, broke her. Artemis was her saving grace, but she never wanted her to hold the sky, never wanted anyone besides her to hold it. When Percy and Thalia and Grover and Zoe reached her, she watched Thalia kick Luke off the cliff.

Annabeth was fourteen years old when any hope of her family was vanquished. 

Luke had just been pushed off a cliff, she now had a matching gray streak in her hair with Percy, and Grover had finally heard from Pan, who he’d been looking for his whole life. She had a newfound tiredness settling into her bones, but that was probably just from holding the sky and would go away soon. But she had Thalia again, and it would all be fine.

But she was Annabeth Chase, and she learned a long time ago that life never gives her what she wants.

Thalia was asked to be a hunter, and Annabeth was sure she would turn it down. She did all those years ago, why would it change now? But she didn’t. Thalia accepted and was now a hunter. Annabeth knew her family would never be whole again.

Annabeth Chase was fifteen years old when her father figure, who’d raised her most of her life, was forced to leave. 

Annabeth begged Chiron to stay. No one could run camp better than him, and she knew that well. She’d already lost so much in the past few years, already lost her whole family, she couldn’t lost him too! What else was she supposed to without him! 

Annabeth Chase was fifteen years old when she thought she lost her best friend.

Why wouldn’t she think Percy was dead? He had disappeared, and didn’t find his way back home. First Luke, then Thalia, Chiron, and the one person she had thought would stay, even if the prophecy said otherwise, he was gone too. She tried to stay optimistic. Percy was the most stubborn hero she had ever met, and he wouldn’t die without saying goodbye. But the days lumbered on, slow and painful, and she knew. She knew he had to be gone. There was no other way to explain the pain in her chest, the pain that was different than the rest leaving. She didn’t understand that feeling in her chest, as if part of her heart had been pulled out and stepped on.

Annabeth Chase was fifteen years old when he came back.

She had accepted it. She knew he was gone, and it was time to honor a hero. A hero who gave his life for his friends. And then she heard him, her dumb Seaweed Brain. He wasn’t dead. 

She knew he would never leave her, even if it took him a while to come home.

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when she truly understood what the prophecy meant.

Even she never could’ve predicted she would become so attached to the drooling boy she met all those years ago when they were all wobbly knees and thin hands and feet that were too big for their growing bodies. But that mischievous grin, and sparkling eyes, and cheeky laugh pulled her in and wouldn’t let go. And the prophecy was nearing and so was his death and she couldn’t let that happen. Percy Jackson didn’t deserve to die, because his father is Poseidon. So she swore silently when she couldn’t sleep that she would protect Percy in the oncoming war, no matter what it took.

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when she fought the first war of her life.

She made good on what she swore, taking the knife for Percy, feeling the sharp pain in her back. He didn’t know why, but she couldn’t let him die. She would never let him die. The time came for the prophecy to be fulfilled, and she learned it was never him who would die. He wasn’t the hero’s whose soul cursed blade shall reap. Riptide was not the cursed blade, but it was her own, a knife born of a broken promise. She knew long ago her family would never be a family again, but Luke on the floor of Olympus, his blood staining the floor made it real. He was gone, and so was her family.

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when her best friend and boyfriend disappeared again.

She didn’t see him at breakfast that morning, but that wasn’t concerning. He slept in a lot. So she ate breakfast calmly and went to his cabin afterwards. But when she got there, and found his bed empty, the anxiety and fear she hadn’t felt in a while came back, that feeling of her heart being ripped out of her chest because the gods don’t want her to be happy. She didn’t know how, but she knew it was her fault because everything was, wasn’t it? 

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when she thought she found him again.

Hera had told her, the boy with one shoe. When she saved Jason, Piper, and Leo from the Grand Canyon, she saw him. The boy with one shoe has all the answers. But upon questioning him, she found out he knew nothing, that she wasn’t any closer to finding the boy she worked so hard to make sure stayed alive, only to disappear when his prophecy was over. The feeling that had been growing, crushing her down for months grew until it was almost unbearable. She would find Percy Jackson if it was the last thing she did, goddamnit!

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when he was found.

Finally, after eight months, they arrived at the Roman camp, and there he was, standing there like a total Seaweed Brain. It was just as spectacular as she had hoped, because just seeing him was enough for the crushing feeling to lift, and suddenly she wasn’t holding the weight of the world anymore. And she knew what that felt like, she had done it before. As she ran to him, the sadness of him being missing was replaced by anger, and motivated her to judoflip him. 

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when she followed the mark.

It was the biggest quest of her life. No one had done it, followed the Mark of Athena successfully. But Annabeth knew, she knew was different. She had been preparing for something like that her entire life, because her mother noticed her, and thought she could do it! She was determined not to fail, and in the end, that was her downfall. 

Literally.

Annabeth Chase was sixteen years old when the actual worst thing in her life happened. 

She will never forget hanging over that edge with Percy, an endless abyss of despair and death below them. If they survived the fall, they’d be lucky. If they survived until the Doors of Death, they’d be unkillable. In a way, it was bittersweet. Percy wouldn’t let her go to her death alone, but instead, they’d go together. Tartarus was worse than she could’ve ever imagined. It brought out the worst in both of them, but mostly Percy, to the point where his actions scared her. It took the innocent and spit them out corrupt and evil. She didn’t want to be like that, but she was already hardly innocent. So she clung to Percy, in the hopes that by staying sane long enough, they would make it through.

Annabeth Chase was seventeen years old when she saw the stars again.

They had done it. They made it to the Doors of Death and Bob had closed them. They were free and together and neither of them had died and none of their friends had died so everything was okay. They told the stars that Bob said hello, and they had cried together and they knew they would survive together. In Tartarus, she had aged a year. What a way to spend a birthday. 

Annabeth Chase was seventeen years old when she saw her second war. 

This one was worst than the first. There had been more casualties. The battlefield was littered with bodies and blood for days afterward. The prophecy came into fruition and they lost one of their own. But by the time it was over, she could settle down and heal. She would help her friends grieve and she would grieve. She saw an end to the fighting and that’s all she could’ve hoped for.

Annabeth Chase was seventeen years old, and the rest was history.


End file.
